HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH 2024: Meet Johnny Cruz, the man behind the Spanish Harlem Salsa Museum

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Johnny Cruz has worn many hats as a musician, business owner, and TV and radio personality, but his greatest challenge is preserving the rich history of salsa music.

For Cruz, salsa isn’t just a genre – it’s a way of life. “My mission and my vision is to get new generations interested in learning about the history of Latin music,” he told 1010 WINS. And he’s doing just that by inviting people not only to hear the music but to see it, feel it, and experience the culture that surrounds it with his own Spanish Harlem Salsa Museum in East Harlem .

Since the 1990s, Cruz has been collecting memorabilia, and he has more than enough to show off at his own museum.

Over a decade ago, Cruz opened the SpaHa Salsa Museum located in the same hardware store that his father, a Puerto Rican immigrant, ran for years.

The museum has become a treasure of salsa history, featuring everything from a tux worn by Tito Puente to a dress once worn by Celia Cruz. “This is the place…the Salsa Museum is where the legends never die,” Cruz said.

The museum is filled with hundreds of artifacts that celebrate the greats of the salsa world. But Cruz’s vision goes beyond East Harlem. He’s also working to open a similar museum in Puerto Rico, where he hopes to continue his work preserving and promoting salsa’s legacy.

For more about the Cruz, listen to his interview above with anchor Kevin Rincon.